World News - U. of I. computer takes quantum leap and works when it's asleep

In the bizarre realm of quantum mechanics--the physics theory that stumped even Albert Einstein--tiny things like electrons and packets of light often seem to be in two places at once, in total violation of common sense. Now a University of Illinois physics team has taken that principle and built something harder to fathom: a quantum-based computer that can be awake and asleep at the same time, and spit out answers even if its program is never triggered. It's plenty strange, but some experts say such real-world spinoffs of eerie quantum effects are growing so common that it's our understanding of "strange" that needs to change. "This is the way nature is," said Charles Bennett, an IBM researcher who dreamed up some of the new uses of quantum physics. "We should be learning how to get used to that." Quantum mechanics is the theory physicists use to understand events at the atomic level, which works far differently than the large-scale world that people inhabit. ... http://www.chicagotribune.com

The United Arab Emirates firm set to take control of six US ports is to delay part of the deal after objections from leading US lawmakers. Dubai Ports World had been set to take over ports from New York to New Orleans by buying UK firm P&O. But some lawmakers, both Democrat and Republican, warn the deal will make the US more vulnerable to terrorism. The White House has threatened to veto any law seeking to block the agreement, but said it could accept some delays. DP World's decision to delay the US part of the P&O takeover will be welcomed by the White House, the BBC's James Coomarasamy in Washington says. Even the threat of a presidential veto has failed to quell the chorus of opposition and at this point a cooling-off period is probably the best George W Bush could have hoped for, he adds. A White House spokesman had earlier said that although there might be flexibility over timing, the deal should go ahead. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4744086.stm

Two eminent Oxford scientists took a publicly defiant stand against Britain's often violent animal rights extremists on Friday, saying the intimidation which stops vital medical research had to end. "You have to be really passionate about this to put your head above the parapet and not many do," said Professor John Stein, a neurophysiologist. "The (animal rights groups) have had it all their own way. They have intimidated people, but the time has come to speak up and risk it. Who knows what the risk is?" he told the Guardian newspaper. Stein and his colleague, consultant neurosurgeon Professor Tipu Aziz, could be putting themselves at considerable danger. Britain's largest and oldest animal testing center, in Huntingdon, nearly collapsed in 2001 when frequent violent protests caused financiers to pull out. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1657843

The maker of the Blackberry device is awaiting a court decision that could force it to shut down its mobile e-mail service in the US. Research In Motion (RIM) is embroiled in a legal dispute with technology firm NTP, which says the Blackberry has infringed its patents. The decision is now in the hands of US District Court Judge James Spencer, who began hearing arguments on Friday. Switching off the US service would affect more than three million users. But RIM claims to have a software patch that would enable its handheld e-mail devices to work even if the ruling goes against it. On Thursday, NTP had one of its five claims rejected by officials at the US Patent and Trademark Office. The Patent Office's move is the first final decision on any of the disputed patents - although it has previously rejected all five on a "non-final" basis. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4746124.stm

The Florida Supreme Court unanimously ordered the acquittal of a death row inmate Thursday, saying prosecutors had not proved he killed two neighbors.John Robert Ballard, 37, has served nearly three years for the 1999 murders of his friends Jennifer Jones and Willie Ray Patin Jr., whose skulls were smashed at their apartment."It's music to my ears," said Michael Orlando, Ballard's lawyer. "It's taken a long journey, but it was well worth the wait for this particular result."The state will not ask the court to reconsider, said Carolyn Snurkowski, a lawyer for Florida's attorney general. The trial judge must sign an order for Ballard to be released.The only evidence tying Ballard to the crime was a fingerprint on a bed frame and an arm hair found in Jones' hand, the high court said. But the court noted the possibility that Ballard left the fingerprint and hair during one of his many visits....http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-02-23-inmate-acquitted_x.htm?csp=34

A federal judge ordered the Pentagon on Thursday to release the identities of hundreds of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to The Associated Press, a move that would force the government to break its secrecy and reveal the most comprehensive list yet of those who have been imprisoned there.Some of the hundreds of detainees in the war on terrorism being held at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been held as long as four years. Only a handful have been officially identified.U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in New York ordered the Defense Department to release uncensored transcripts of prisoner hearings, which contain the names of detainees in custody and those who have been held and later released. Previously released documents have had identities and other details blacked out....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11531093/from/RSS/